Oh, herbology
by FiveMetersOfPrussia
Summary: All Albus wants to do is talk to his teacher!  Beware the fluff.


Oh, herbology

A/N: My first challenge, provided by the lovely Rosa Clearwater! Thank you, and I hope you like it~

Chapter summary: It's darling little Albus' first year at Hogwarts, and it's more stressful than he lets on. But it couldn't _possibly_ be because of who he has a crush on... That would be too cliche!

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Harry Potter... But I am in possession of midnight showing tickets, a uniform, and soon to be robe once I am done making it.

Warnings: Uhm... Potentially lethal fluff?

Monday... Albus groaned inwardly and forced himself into an upright position as he rubbed at his eyes sleepily. His hair was a mess, as per usual, and it was something that no amount of anything could tame. But this was not important, for a glance at the clock told him that he'd already missed half of breakfast. The tired boy yawned and slid out of his four poster bed unhurriedly, and trotted over to his trunk and rummaged about slowly... Until it sank in. He'd missed half of breakfast. _Half_ of breakfast... And he hadn't finished his homework! Had he even _done_ any of his homework? "Not likely." he grimaced and all but broke his neck as he scurried to get dressed.

From that point, it was all a blur as he raced down to the great hall, and set to work on studiously finishing his homework for his first class; transfiguration. Now, normally, he wouldn't be caught dead doing his homework, but... The last howler he'd gotten from his mum was more than enough to set him straight. He did **not** want a repeat of that. So, with three seconds to spare, he finished before scurrying off along with a horde of other first years, and dutifully turned it in. Once he was at his seat, however, he set about doing the rest of his homework. It went on like this until lunch, where he avoided the great hall, in favor of a different spot. The green houses, to be exact, because he was hoping that - all though he would never admit it - the herbology professor would be there.

Albus had made a habit of running off to the greenhouses when he was having a bad day, because he could usually pester Professor Longbottom into listening to him go on about his day, or maybe even get a story about his father. He rarely turned the boy away, and was always attentive as he went on and on, and... And he was always so kind about it if he was busy and _couldn't_ listen to his whining... And he just made Albus feel so much better when he was having a bad day. But the greenhouses were quiet today, and the smell of warm, wet dirt filled his nose with a quiet solitude. But where was the Professor?

He poked around the greenhouses from top to bottom, but there was no sign of the Professor to be found, and Albus could only huff moodily and cross his arms over his chest. "Where is he?" he sighed. Dejected, the younger Potter went and looked around at the plants within the green house. They were all so fantastical and magical and - Oh! What was that? The distractable boy wandered over to a table of plants labeled 'Mandrake', and ogled them curiously. Now, Albus wasn't normally one to pay attention, but... He did remember the darling Professor Longbottom telling them about what they would be doing with a Mandrake.

Simply re-potting them!

And it was on that note, with all the other information having been tuned out because Albus was too busy admiring his professor, that the boy jerked out the small plant from it's pot. Then proceeded to drop it as it began to shriek, and covered his ears in an attempt to block out the sound. When this proved to do him no good, Albus scrambled backwards in an attempt to distance himself from the screams, but tripped over an empty pot and fell backwards into a box of - uh oh... He was in _so_ much trouble! - devil's snare. Why they even _had_ this in the green house was beyond him, but that was beside the point as he tried to free himself from the clingy plant, only to get stuck further into the leafy green horror.

* * *

><p>This was the delightful sight that Professor Longbottom stumbled upon as he entered the storage greenhouse after his class that afternoon. He'd noticed the absence of Albus - who was hardly ever so much as tardy if he could avoid it - and wondered where the boy had run off too. But this... Well, let's just say it was a large mess. Neville had quickly silenced the screaming Mandrake by sticking it back in a pot, for he was very practiced at this by now, and scurried over to the poor victim of the devil's snare. "Oh, Merlin..." he sighed. He pulled out his wand and, after a moment of thought, the tip of the wand threw light mercilessly down upon the plants and - quite literally - small squeals could be heard as they retracted. And much to Neville's surprise, his missing student was revealed under all those vines. "Albus?"<p>

* * *

><p>Normally, Albus refrained from visiting the infirmary, because... Well, who wanted to sit on a sick bed all day? But it could not be avoided as Professor Longbottom had dutifully taken his unconscious student to see Madame Pomfrey, who had nearly had a heart attack at the sight of the pallid boy. None the less, the mediwitch took care of the young Potter child, and after what felt like hours, he was left alone to rest. It was then that Neville took up residence at the bedside of the sleepy Albus, where he was greeted by a lazy smile. "Hi," Albus giggled, still quite nearly asleep.<p>

"Hello, Albus." Neville smiled. This earned another set of giggles from the boy, but one could hardly fault him. After all, he had all sorts of potions running through his system. But there was one question that, above all else, needed to be answered. "I found you caught in a patch of devil's snare in the storage house, and I was wondering, just what were you doing in there, Albus?" Professor Longbottom inquired. At this, the giggly Potter turned scarlet, and rolled over onto his stomach to bury his face into the pillow. "Umm... N-Nothing... Professor." Albus mumbled, though he was talking into the pillow, so it sounded more like; 'Mmmmfh... Nuuuuuffinf... Furfeffor.' Or something along those lines. "So you just go around getting stuck in plants all the time, then?" Neville grinned.

"N-No! I was... I was looking for y-you..." Albus said, rolling over again and sitting up.

At this, Neville looked surprised, but offered a gentle smile none the less. "Oh, what for?"

Albus just laughed hysterically and went back to mumbling into his pillow. _Because I love you!_ he screamed in his head. Unfortunately, he also mumbled this into his pillow, but it was inaudible, for the thick feathers that drowned out his voice. So, Albus had a crush on his _totally_ awesome, sweetheart of an herbology teacher, but... At least it would make a funny story to tell his dad when he went home for the holidays.

A/N: that's all~ I hope you liked it! :]

Please review and let me know how I did?


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